HIV ‘on demand’ pill prevents infection in gay men

The odds of getting HIV can be dramatically reduced by taking two pills prior to sex and two more after, according to a new study of 400 high-risk gay men and transgendered women published online by the New England Journal of Medicine in conjunction with World AIDS Day.

The medication is Gilead's Truvada, a combination of tenofovir and emtricitabine, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2012 to prevent HIV infections and intended to be given daily.

The study suggests that may not be necessary, and the pills can be taken as needed.

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